self-vipassana ii
Did a second self Vipassana the past 10 days with slightly more modifications than last time. This time I : Stayed in a tiny home at a tantric Buddhist ground in California called Gomde. Bought preprepared food at a grocery store along the way Used an enso pearl for wake up and timing and used 14 presets
Modifications I made: Reasonable exercise Allowing 20 minutes of outbound communication per day (i.e. work-critical phone calls adn the like). Extra reading in evening times while Goenka was lecturing and as I went to sleep Cooking (very light but I had to prepare the food) Cut calories to a half on day 4 and quarter day 5 and 6. Everything else was strict but I only listened to Goenka during the evening lectures I did not have a way to play his chanting or other exhortations during the day. What i found: Possible to do alone More sloppy this time as compared to the first time I did it (i.e. good days and bad days, easier to slouch) Outbound communication strongly detracts from quality of practice and easy to let get out of hand Still is a good practice to develop the self-control of how many minutes of outbound control At the moment generally feel positive about doing more reading If I were to do it again: More calories (++150 per day including nuts and backup carb supply) Strict cut off time for outbound comms, I think 20 minute max is good Probably do a 7 minute transition time per enso pearl interval rather than a more slippery 5 minutes grace period at the ends More math, less "broad spiritual reading" Clear "did you retain it? What did you learn from it?" type reading analysis and reinforcement Possible some note taking or extended learning Progress towards 2 hours in full lotus and 2 minutes in tolasana Language learning In general I do not see this as a substitute for the strict style nor a thing in the center. It is possible to do and generally a good test of discipline and good for guided self-learning on specific topics of interest. Possible variations: 1/ Reading retreat with 4 hrs of meditation per day and 6 of reading 2/ Exercise retreat with 2.5 hrs of exercise per day , 4 of reading and 4 of meditation. 3/ Course retreat where you work through a course of some kind each day
